NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, December 17, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-692 - Lake Meredith NRA (Texas) - Boating Accident with Four Deaths

R.B., a 41-year-old Amarillo dentist, and his three sons - Ph.B.,
11, Pa.B., 9, and B.B., 8 - all drowned when their 14-foot boat apparently
capsized on Lake Meredith around mid-day on Saturday, December 14th.  R.B.
and his sons were duck hunting when a passing front generated sustained winds
of about 20 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph.  R.B. called his wife via cell
phone late that morning and told her that the winds were coming up and that
they were heading for shore.  When he failed to return home by 1 p.m., his
wife and close family friends drove to the lake and found B.'s vehicle
and boat trailer.  They then drove to a ranch house about six miles away and
reported them missing to district ranger Bob Wilson at 4:45 p.m.  Wilson
immediately dispatched a patrol boat to the area and initiated an all-out
search effort.  Rangers Carl Dyer and Pam Griswold located the overturned
boat about 100 yards from shore just before dark.  The body of Ph.B.
was found floating in the lake about 20 yards from the boat.  Ground
searchers, dog teams and boats searched the lake and shoreline for the
victims, and a state police helicopter from Lubbock joined the effort at
10:30 p.m.  Search efforts were suspended at midnight due to high winds and
cold temperatures.  The search resumed at daylight, and the body of Dr.
R.B. was found shortly thereafter.  The search for the two remaining
victims is continuing.  [John Benjamin, Superintendent, LAMR]

96-693 - Lake Meredith NRA (Texas) - Assist; Officer Fatality

A compressor building at a gas plant in Fritch, Texas, was destroyed by a
large explosion at 2 a.m. on Saturday, December 14th.  A Moore County deputy
responding to the incident suffered an apparent massive heart attack while en
route.  Ranger Carl Dyer was the first medically trained person on scene and
initiated CPR.  Despite his efforts, the deputy did not survive.  [John
Benjamin, Superintendent, LAMR]

96-694 - Great Sand Dunes NM (Colorado) - Search; Suicide

On December 12th, it was determined that a vehicle at the Dunes parking lot
had been there for several days.  A plate check revealed that the owner, A.E.
of Boulder, Colorado, was listed as missing and possibly
suicidal.  A ranger entered the vehicle and found a suicide note in which
A.E. said that he was going to put a peaceful end to his struggle with
cancer.  A search was undertaken by park staff and members of a volunteer SAR
team.  On the second day of the search, A.E.'s body was found well
into the dunes.  The cause of death is not yet known.  His family reported
that A.E. did not have a terminal illness.  [Loren Good, GRSA]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Mammoth Cave NP (Kentucky) - Spill Maps

Under the provisions of the Mammoth Cave Area International Biosphere
Reserve, the park, in cooperation with the state water division and the local
development district, has created a set of "hazmaps" (also known as
groundwater hazard maps).  The hazmaps will help emergency responders track
the flow of groundwater in the Mammoth Cave watershed and provide a new tool
for protecting the water quality of area wells and the cave.  Three major
highway and railway transportation corridors traverse Mammoth Cave's recharge
basin.  The hazmaps, which detail a half-mile section of roadway (or one mile
of railroad), display a host of landmarks (signs, mile-markers, guard rails,
outcrops and bridges), hydrologic features (paved ditches, streams, inlet
boxes, pipe headwalls and sinkholes), and potential hazards that may greatly
alter the designed flow of surface waters.  Equipped with this map set, the
emergency responder knows immediately where the spill occurred hydrologically
and knows exactly where to deploy lines of defense for spill mitigation. 
Park staff are currently training all area emergency responders and providing
them with hazmaps.  As long as hazardous materials are transported over karst
lands, there will be a need for rapid spill assessment and mitigation.  It is
hoped that the hazmaps will make it possible to deal with spills quickly and
effectively.  [RMS, MACA]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Wildland Fire Management - A draft of DM 910-1, Wildland Fire Management, is
now available for review.  It includes the policy statements contained in the
final report of the federal wildland fire management policy and program
review, dated December 18, 1995.  This draft has been sent to all FMOs
through a mailing list maintained by the fire management office, but it also
needs to go to interested natural and cultural resource managers.  If you're
interested in reviewing the manual, contact Doug Erskine at NP-FIRE and he
will send it to you via cc:Mail.  Comments are due by January 17th.  [Doug
Erskine, RAD/Boise]

New Parks - On Sunday, December 22nd, CBS Sunday Morning will have a feature
entitled "Our Gifts to Us" which will look at three of the new parks added to
the system in last fall's omnibus parks bill - Washita, Nicodemus and Boston
Harbor Islands.  [David Barna, WASO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The 105th Congress will not convene until January 7th, so the "Upcoming in
Congress" section will not resume until that time.  Party leaders, however,
have announced their tentative plans for Congressional recesses for most of
1997.  That schedule follows:

    Event                       Senate                     House

105th Congress convenes     January 7              January 7
Not in session              January 10-20          January 10-February 3
Inauguration Day            January 20             January 20
Not in session              February 14-23         February 14-24
Presidents Day              February 17            February 17
Not in session              March 22-April 6       March 21-April 7
Easter                      March 30               March 30
Not in session              April 18-22            April 18-22
Passover                    April 22               April 22
Not in session              May 24-June 1          May 22-June 2
Memorial Day                May 26                 May 26
Not in session              June 28-July 6         June 27-July 7
Independence Day            July 4                 July 4
Not in session              August 2-September 1   August 2-September 2
Labor Day                   September 1            September 1
Rosh Hashana                October 2              October 2
Not in session              October 11-19          (To be determined)
Columbus Day                October 13             October 13
Target adjournment          November 14            (To be determined)

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address requests
for the Morning Report to your servicing hub coordinator.

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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